Author: TB

As in previous Olympic years we have invited schools to take part in an Olympic driven Truce Project.

For Tokyo 2020 we again invite schools across the world to take part in a new art project called the “Omotenashi” Schools Project. Project 2020

A couple of ideas were given thought but after much research the “Omotenashi” project seems the most fitting being in keeping with the Japanese culture and was a word relatively unknown before Christel Takigawa, the bid ambassador for the 2020 Games, used it in her Olympic bid address.

“Omotenashi” (sincere kindness) is a truly amazing word and has the power to help create a better and more peaceful world, one of the attributes of the Olympic Truce.

The word also has the power to cultivate public awareness of Japanese culture while promoting intercultural, international understanding and diversity.

It also embodies Japan’s spirit of mindful hospitality, in that very word, “Omotenashi” itself, supporting themes of Tokyo 2020.

Though this is not a word that is so easily defined. It means far more, a giving from the heart – the ‘selfless desire to take care of others’ without thought of anything in return. A respect, a love, excellence (showing respect without words), an attitude of humility, acceptance of one another, a shedding of the worldly self, being present in a state of calm, a really powerful way of being.

So for the purposes of this project, we believe we can experience “Omotenashi” in our lives anywhere in the world.

We would like students to spend some class time studying ideas of what “Omotenashi” could look like in their world, developing their understanding of this concept. How it appears in Japan, then look at how we replicate this in our own countries as I believe we do. We have given a couple of links to useful resources in the project guidelines.

We would like students to give us their experience of “Omotenashi” in art form for 2020, using this project as a way to serve peace, friendship, and understanding in the world, and in particular, to promote the Olympic Truce.

Once the designs/ drawings are submitted we will then create a digital quilt which will be posted across all our social media sites.

A very well done to all the students from the Junior Private School in Iraq for the many designs they have created in celebrating the International Day of Sport for Development of Peace.

Lovely artistic landscapes from Zhulia, Zhir, Zhala and Banu Majeed.

Thank you to Shabaz Nahro and Ara Barzan for the designs above.

Thank you to Ngeen Sirwan, Sako Mahmud and Mohammed Ibrahem for these drawings.

Many thanks and much appreciation to Ranj and to the Junior Private school for their participation at a time when the World really does need to come together in Peace.

We must see that peace represents a sweeter music, a cosmic melody, that is far superior to the discords of war. – Martin Luther King, Jr

Flag Description

The National Flag of Kurdistan consists of a tricolour field and central emblem.Red stands for the martyrs of Kurdistan and the continued struggle for freedom. White stands for peace, freedom and equality. Green stands for Kurdistan’s nature, mountains, life and vitality. The sun disk (“Rozh” “Roj” “Roush”) has 21 rays, equal in size and shape and represents bright and freedom. The number 21 holds importance in the ancient Yazdani religious traditions of the Kurds.

Our Schools’ International Peace Quilt works as a collective response to the principle behind both the traditional and modern Olympic ideals of building a peaceful and better world.

2012 Schools’ International Peace Quilt

2016 Schools’ International Peace Quilt

The focus of the Quilt is to invite children from all over the world to make a wish for peace.

Palestine

Kenya

Tunisia

We want the children`s wishes to speak out to the world and remind us of the simple wishes of a child in our complex and damaged world as we meet together in the shared experience of the Olympic Games, with its inherent values of building peace.

Brazil

Argentina

Uganda

We wanted to encourage children from every country in the world to connect in one purpose.

India

Brazil

Dominican Republic 2012 Display

Dominican Republic Display

We hoped that with this activity young people would be given the opportunity to reflect on their feelings about peace and how it can be achieved; be able to understand and empathise with those in situations of conflict creating greater cohesion and then promote PEACE within their local communities and further afield including competitors, World Leaders, and Governments.

Denmark

Nauru

Stone Space Gallery Display, Leytonstone for London 2012

The idea of a Quilt, which begins as an individual activity and then becomes a representation of a collective voice, felt a powerful and practical way to achieve our aims. Its story is told in and through the universal language of visual art making its meaning accessible to ALL.

Brazil

Argentina Carla Palermo with the Quilt

New Zealand and Demi Seymour

Quilting is traditionally a way of creating an artefact which brings together a community. Each square is unique to its maker and tells an individual story in visual image, colour, form, texture, stitch and pattern.

Abraham Moss Community School

UK Exhibition

UK Exhibition

Abraham Moss Community School,UK

UK Exhibition

This is then brought together with other individual stories to tell a collective story which reflect a community at a particular time for a particular purpose.

French Polynesia

Turkmenistan

Palestine

Slovenia

The Schools’ International Peace Quilt promotes peacemaking by raising awareness of the issues for different countries expressed in their wishes.

Canada

Peace Patch UK

Kazakhstan

British Virgin Islands

St. Lucia

Portugal

The ripples of the Olympic Quilts will have a lasting impact because most of the participating countries have chosen to create their own peace quilt as a wish for peace.

Brazil

The Netherlands and Laura Oest

“I must say that everyone who had the chance to see the Quilt was really impressed by the drawings and in fact the Quilt made people think and talk more about peace.” Ricardo Sigwalt

This will leave a legacy which can be spoken about to the post 2012 Olympic generation and exists as a reminder of the Olympic Ideal to promote a more peaceful and better world.

Congratulations to Song Yeona in Grade 2 from the Kazakhstan International School for her winning design. Choosing one design was very, very difficult as we have received so many that would be worthy winners. After much deliberation Song’s design has been chosen for it’s sheer simplicity and originality. It is a new idea which we hadn’t seen before. Looking at the new 2016 quilt it always seemed to catch our eye. Well done Song!

Song Yeona

Song says: We all wish for peace because it brings happiness to the children all over the world.

A copy of ‘The Children’s Book of Peace’ with all the 2012 designs will be on it’s way to the Kazakhstan International School in due course.

Students of Comercial N° 11 “Dr. José Peralta” School in Argentina have submitted these wonderful designs. The first one has been drawn by Camila Gómez 1° 3° T.M. and was voted the piece to represent Argentina by the jury composed of the principal: Gabriela Gramont, the design professor: Sabrina Idaberry and the student: Carla Palermo, who made the drawing in the 2012 SIPQ.

A huge thank you to all those involved and to Paula Burd who coordinated the project for Argentina.

Interesting Argentine Flag Facts:Argentines call the blue colour of their national flag ‘celeste’, which is the colour of the day sky seen from normal angles of sight.

When ceremonially carried, the Argentine flag and flag bearers are subject to certain particular and elaborate practices set by law and flags are always carried with at least two escorts.

Argentine’s flag bearers usually have to go through a screening process and in schools there is strong competition by students to achieve the honour. Often students with the best grades are chosen to be Argentine’s flag carriers.

We welcome designs from the Grade 3 class in the H.I.S. Heidelberg International School in Germany. This first picture has been painted by JulianHeisler whose expression for peace involves the planting of peace flowers.

We all wish for peace because peace is a scene of family time. No fighting. Just quiet time to relax.

What was on your mind when you were creating your drawing?

Peace rising above a bombing war zone.

Why do you think peace is important?

Because in war no body wins and people just die. Peace spreads around the world sending friendship and quiet.

The first picture above has been created by Alex and the second jointly by Ella Vielhaber and Isabella Hankins.

Alex wrote: We all wish for peace because everyday lots of people die and we don’t want that.

What was on your mind when you were creating your drawing?

A war being fought with Peace.

Why do you think peace is important?

Because nobody likes dying.

Ella and Isabella say: We all wish for peace because peace is loving, caring and respectful. And we want those things.

What was on your mind when you were creating your drawing?

Hoping that the world will be peaceful.

Why do you think peace is important?

Because everyone could get along and live in one spot without having to move to a different country.

Oliver Mylon and Jennifer Lee wrote: We all wish for peace because everyday thousands and thousands of people in war die. The world is not in peace, not even close.

What was on your mind when you were creating your drawing?

That the real fighter planes would drop out flowers not bombs.

Why do you think peace is important?

Peace could save millions of lives and if the world just keeps getting worse more and more people will die.

Tatsuki Yamamoto who painted the second design above says: We all wish for peace because peace makes us free.

What was on your mind when you were creating your drawing?

Flowers are better than war. Peace is better than war. War is bad and dark.

Why do you think peace is important?

Children can grow up safely. They can go to school. Their future will be good.

Next we have, We love peace. It’s fun! by Ryan Elgihani and Laura Kloeve.

What was on your mind when you were creating your drawing?

A man shooting fireworks and a rainbow over a unicorn.

Why do you think peace is important?

Because peace is good and war is bad.

Amir How and Amir Alberg jointly created the adjoining design. We all wish for peace because we will be helping each other and we will have some relaxing life without any war.

What was on your mind when you were creating your drawing?

That war was a horrible thing.

Why do you think peace is important?

Because if there was no peace the world would be chaos.

Vivienne Cox wrote: We all wish for peace because it will make the world a better place for all living things to live in.

What was on your mind when you were creating your drawing?

Making a war setting with a small amount of peace in it and enough peace to hopefully make a change to someone.

Why do you think peace is important?

Peace is important because no one will get hurt, nothing will get destroyed.

For the next design Evan wrote: We all wish for peace because ones peace comes from inside, it is what shows a person for who they are. This sense is often lost in times of war which is why it is often easy to miss it. So in a larger sense that is why you have to keep it and protect as well as you can. Otherwise the world will become hate and turmoil just as so many countries have been eroded away by it.

What was on your mind when you were creating your drawing?

My picture shows a moral. In war love is most important. But it also shows something else; sometimes technology evolves faster than the time it takes for the world to recover.

Why do you think peace is important?

If peace was something of the past, what do you think would happen? What would we learn was wrong or right? Peace helps us learn whether we need to change something. Without peace we would not evolve or adapt, we would be the same always.

The above design has been painted by May whose quote reads: We all wish for peace so we don’t kill each other.

What was on your mind when you were creating your drawing?

So we can live in peace.

Why do you think peace is important?

So we can have lots of plants and trees for air.

The final piece of art has been done by Christopher who wrote:We all wish for peace because war can kill us.

What was on your mind when you were creating your drawing?

How hard it is to keep peace.

Why do you think peace is important?

Living creatures everywhere can live happily.

A massive thank you to Prudence Boulter, Grade 3 Classroom Teacher and to all of the children in Class 3 for their lovely artistic paintings. Additional thanks to Allyn Raw, Deputy Director, Primary School Principal for coordinating the 2016 project for Germany.

German Flag Meaning: The colours black, red and gold have been associated with Germany since the middle ages, but the current German flag colours are traced back to early 19th century volunteers, who fought for the country in the Napoleonic wars. The colours are based on the soldiers’ uniforms which were black coats with red braid and gold buttons.

The colours of the German flag now represent the unification of Germany.

As part of the House Sports Week, our Senior School students supported the Stride for Truce 2016 initiative on Thursday 16 June. The aim of this event was to mobilise young people all over the world for the promotion of the Olympic ideals of building a better and more peaceful world.

The Youth Olympics Oath was read over the Tannoy by Dana Tartir and students were encouraged to show good sportsmanship while competing. The Peace Day Committee, composed of Sixth Form students, organised races for Years 7, 8 and 9 including 100m sprint, 100m race walking and 100m rope skipping.

The Youth Olympics Oath: In the name of all the coaches and other members of the athletes’ entourage, I promise that we shall commit ourselves to ensuring that the spirit of sportsmanship and fair play is fully adhered to and upheld in accordance with the fundamental principles of Olympism.

By Rola Al Hammoud Mathematics Teacher / Head of Year 13

As it is extremely hot in Bahrain at this time of year the event was held indoors. Races were also adapted so they were doable for the students (some were also fasting for Ramadan). A very well done to all those who participated.

Bahrain Flag Meaning: The triangles on the white serrated stripe represent the five pillars of Islam. The colour red is supposed to represent the Kharijite sect of Islam. Bahrain’s older flags used to be entirely red, but a white stripe was added in the 19th Century to indicate truces Bahrain had made with neighboring countries. The serrated triangles were added to the white strips to distinguish the Bahranian flag from the flags of its neighboring countries.

This year The English International School Benin linked their ‘Sports Day’ with the Stride for Truce/Peace Project, the aim of which is to mobilise youths globally for the Olympic ideals of building a more peaceful world.

Benin Stride for Truce 2016

Under clement skies in the heart of Cotonou’s rainy season, our children competed in fun races and games, sporting their ‘Stride for Peace’ t-shirts in the colours of their houses: Einstein, Newton and Mandela. We marked the start of the event by striding and then jogging around the school field 3 times. Even our youngest ones were able to keep pace for the sake of peace! A grand time was had by all.

Benin Flag Meaning: The colours of the Benin flag are explained in the Benin’s national anthem as such – the green represents hope and revival; the red symbolizes the courage of ancestors; and the yellow represents the country’s wealth. The colours are traditional Pan-African colours.